“Stop! Make it smooth. And one, two, three!” yelled Marlin Owen, the orchestra conductor, his arms lifted high into the air in a dramatic pose. The musicians wait, sitting in perfect posture, instruments poised, ready for the conductor’s signal. Owen lifts the baton, sways it and suddenly radiant music floods Crowell auditorium.

an emotional and worshipful experience

The annual PRISM concert displays talented ensembles in a collaborative performance to create an emotional and worshipful experience for the audience as well as the performers.

“It’s basically a chance for Biola to showcase all the different facets of the music program in a big concert, about two and a half hours,” said Grayson York, freshman music composition major.

Senior music major Olga Korolev described the concert as similar to an actual prism, displaying all sides of music from jazz to orchestral to opera and so on.

“It’s an excellent representation of the spectrum of talent and the spectrum of what we do here at the conservatory,” said Lindsay Reed, an alumna who participated in the concert for all four years as an undergraduate student.

The musicians practice for weeks on end, and sometimes for three or more hours a day, to bring flawless pieces to the stage, and while that seems overwhelming to most people, it brings life to the musicians whose heartstrings strum with every note of music.

unique way to participate with God in creation

“[Music] is a unique way to participate with God in creation,” Reed said. “Music has such a way of transcending boundaries to reach the hearts of other people. It’s a way of unifying man.”

The music students see music as one of the most vital tools for communication, feeling and life. They see music as an essential part of life and the concert as an opportunity to share this honor with their peers. However, concerts at Biola in this postmodern time do not usually hold a large attendance of students, even though the talent proves superb and the prices low.

“Unfortunately, our student body at Biola is not very aware of or appreciative of the classical side of music,” Reed said. “I would encourage them to be [excited] because… [the musician] has spent countless hours for those five minutes on stage to bless other people with their gifts.”

Reed also encourages students to come for their own benefit, as well. She explained that music offers a healthy oasis for people.

“It’s just a great experience to come out and have an island in time, have that moment of escape from life, to be able to sit and enjoy watching somebody create in front of you,” Reed said.

Despite the average student’s apathy towards the concert, the musicians still enjoy playing for whomever wishes to attend. They consider the concert an enjoyable time to perform with groups they do not usually have the privilege of performing with.

“I like how it showcases all the ensembles that the conservatory has,” said Jackson Ronnow, a junior music performance major. “It’s pretty cool.”

While the world offers many forms of communication, the musicians regard music as the best of them all. Music allows everyone who listens to feel a similar though unique feeling and hear a common yet intricate message through the delicate tunes showering from the instruments, according to Korolev.

“It has its own language and everyone can understand it,” Korolev said. “It’s just a really fun time to make music.”

Ronnow agrees that music often communicates better and deeper than words can.

“It’s the most expressive form of communication we have,” Ronnow said. “It’s the best way of communicating or conveying emotions and senses.”

the transcendent artistry of God.

The musicians know music is valuable in knowing God and his creation. They believe that music can prove instrumental in bringing people closer to Christ.

“[Music] connects how I understand other people, how I understand the world, how I understand God,” York said. “You can show the glory and the majesty of God through music.”

Additionally, they claim music opens their eyes to see a portion of the transcendent artistry of God.

“I think the value of creating or performing music is that it shows us a bit of what beauty is like and I think it gives us a snippet of what heaven is like,” Korolev said.

Most importantly, however, remains the truth that music students have the ability to glorify God and share his name through performing and composing music.

“God gifted me with being able to understand music and produce [music], so I just want to honor him with investing in what he’s given me,” York said. “I love to share music with people. It’s personal for me. It’s part of who I am.”